The stars down to the ballot box: Heterodoxy and comparative electoral behaviour

Abstract Declining trends in civic participation and the growing success of anti-systemic parties reflect a crisis of democratic legitimacy unforeseen by popular readings of secularisation and modernisation theories. These readings expect the rise of rational, predominantly non-religious citizens and the parallel decline of conformist, religious citizens to strengthen democratic institutions. We update this popular approach, which is built on a dichotomy between the non-religious and the religious worldview, by adding a third worldview type: heterodox beliefs (eg in astrology, lucky charms, fortune tellers, and faith healing). Neither conventionally religious nor grounded in rational secularism, heterodoxy has survived and thrives in modern societies but remains overlooked by comparative political science. Heterodoxy reflects a culture of unhealthy scepticism, receptivity to unverifiable ideas and social atomism, and sustains unique patterns of electoral behaviour. Empirical analyses of the International Social Survey Programme (1991−2018) indicate that heterodoxy, unlike the other two core worldviews, favours both electoral apathy and anti-systemic party choice. The electoral effects of heterodoxy point to an alternative diagnosis of current challenges to democratic legitimacy.